Transplant organs with a war-ranty

House Calls

In the year of our Lord 1953, I was drafted into the Armed Forces of the U.S. during the Korean War. I was to graduate in June of that year from Brooklyn College but was drafted in April, three months prior to my graduation. After basic training, I was ultimately assigned to a graves registration unit, where my duties were identifying the fallen heroes of the war. From this experience, I became a “dove.” In other words, I hated war.

Over the years, I became acquainted with the great scientist Linus Pauling, a chemist born in Portland, Ore., who was the only person to win two Nobel Prizes. His second prize was based upon his negotiating the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and receiving the International Lenin Peace Prize in 1970. He was known to often state that he supported every peace movement that was brought to his attention. He further affirmed his deepest beliefs in the commandment “Thou shall not kill.”

Deeply interested in his fellow Americans, he believed in morality and was a humanitarian. He felt strongly that the United States of America should take a lead in promoting peace. Pauling felt that scientists, economists, geographers and other experts should join together and find solutions to world problems. He wrote these ideas and thoughts in response to nations at war.

At the present time, there are thousands of folks who are on waiting lists because they are in need of organs for their survival. When you think about it, there are souls dying on the battlefields with perfect organs that are lost upon their death. You can say that war causes the robbing of God-given precious organs and life. Nearly 100,000 individuals in total are on the list to receive lifesaving transplants. Those persons would benefit greatly from organ donors and are dependent upon living donors. To find out how to become an organ donor in your area, visit www.organdonor.gov for donor information.

I have been so moved by how war robs lives that I penned the following poem and hope that it will encourage you to rally for peace!